Released 18/07/2016
This summer Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia (NGA) will be the only place in Australia where audiences can get a rare glimpse of 100 masterpieces from the Palace of Versailles.
The ACT Government is partnering with the NGA through its Special Event Fund to bring Versailles: Treasures from the Palace to Canberra from 9 December this year to 17 April 2017.
It is the first time many of the works from some of the world’s greatest artists of the 17th and 18th Centuries have ever been outside of France, with many specially conserved for this exhibition. Highlights include the marble bust of Louis XIV, Marie-Antoinette’s porcelain and the Gobelins tapestries.
The ACT Government, through VisitCanberra, is committing $500,000 which will be matched by the NGA to promote the event to interstate and international audiences to drive visitors to Canberra over the summer period. The Fund, of which the government has invested $3.74 million, has delivered significant interstate attendance to its events, with SEF funded events since 2011 attracting in excess of 1.71 million people and delivering an economic return of around $350 million to the ACT.
With direct international flights commencing in September, international visitors to our city will have the opportunity to enjoy the exhibition. I congratulate the NGA for bringing this exhibition to Canberra and the significant benefits it will bring to the local tourism industry and the ACT economy.
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Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases